Colombian dispatches up 3% in October

Colombia’s cement market expanded by 2.6 per cent to 1.111Mt in October 2019 when compared with 1.083Mt in October 2018, according to the country’s national statistics office, DANE. The increase in dispatches has been attributed to a 34 per cent rise of offtake in the prefabricated segment while a 1.4 per cent rise was reported in the retail sector.

Antioquia reported an 8.4 per cent upswing in sales while Santander sales were up 19.4 per cent. The smaller markets of Casanare, Tolima and Caldas posted increases of 87.7, 16.6 and 11.8 per cent. However, in Bogotá, sales were down four per cent while in Cundinamarca, another key market, volumes slipped 1.9 per cent. The largest decreases were reported in Atlántico and Bolívar, with declines of 10.1 and 15.1 per cent, respectively.

Cement production in Colombia edged up 2.5 per cent YoY to 1.135Mt in October 2019, up from 1.107Mt.

January-October 2019
In the January-October 2019 period, dispatches advanced by 10.353Mt, representing a YoY rise of 3.8 per cent. In the first 10 months of 2018 deliveries reached 9.972Mt. Sales by ready-mix concrete companies improved by 4.9 per cent while retail sector volumes were up by 3.9 per cent.

Cement output from Colombian cement producers increased by four per cent to 10.691Mt over the 10-month period when compared with the 10M18, when they stood at 10.276Mt.